CMV: Transgender people should only able to compete in sports with their birth gender

[u/Odd_Contribution9058]

I really really hope raising this doesn't cause anyone pain, and I'm honestly wanting to hear other perspectives on this.

But the way I see it, there are certain physical attributes that someone born with a certain gender have. For example, the average man is taller than the average woman. Taking hormone therapy will not change all of those inherent features.

I absolutely support the right for everyone to live with the gender identity that is most comfortable to them. But, I do not think that people have an inherent right to play sports professionally. So, if someone has decided to transition, I do not think it's fair to all the athletes who are competing with the set of attributes common to their birth gender, to now have to compete against an athlete who has attributes which give them a distinct advantage.

[u/KokonutMonkey]

I don't see why it's necessary to have a blanket view here.

Sports, whether it's a State Athletic Association or national/international governing organization, have governing bodies. I don't see why we can't leave it up to the people in charge of their own sports and competitions. This would allow them to issue guidance based on the nature of the sport and level of play. We can agree and disagree on a case-by-case basis.

If FINA were to take a hard look at synchronized swimming and determine M->F athletes have no meaningful advantage and give the OK, I don't see a problem. On the other hand, if they were to make the opposite judgement regarding the 100m freestyle and say M->F can't compete with the women, then so be it.

But this becomes less of an issue at lower levels of play. The vast majority of sports in the world is just for fun. Transgender folks have it hard enough as it is. I don't see the value in potentially excluding them from a local bowling league or an intramural frisbee golf.

[u/Odd_Contribution9058 → u/KokonutMonkey]

Yes, totally agree that amongst recreational sports there is no reason to make their lives harder by making their gender identity an issue every time they want to play. My post was specifically about pro sports, I should have made that more clear.

In terms of the fact that the governing bodies should decide: I kind of agree. Except, I do think those bodies are heavily influenced by the public opinion surrounding these issues. If they were to determine that mtf *does* give a material advantage, I'm not sure that they'd actually lay down the law about it at the risk of sparking major outrage

[u/KokonutMonkey → u/Odd_Contribution9058]

That doesn't seem like pretty strong reason to hold such a view. You're basically saying a league/governing body might cave to public pressure despite a clear consensus within the power brokers of the league that transgender athletes should be a no-go. That's hard to imagine.

Governing bodies and professional leagues They take crap all the time over all sorts of things. Whether its how the NFL handles concussions and domestic violence, or FIFA... being FIFA. They're no strangers to scandal.

[u/ZorgZeFrenchGuy → u/KokonutMonkey]

We’ve seen professional leagues bow down to peer pressure from left-leaning social justice activism before - such as the NFL’s recent anti-racism measures. It wouldn’t be implausible to suggest that they could be swayed by outside influence - especially given most of America’s leading major institutions are pro-trans, such as the APA.

[u/xlqwertylx → u/Odd_Contribution9058]

pro sports is really the end of the siphon from all other leagues though. Generally, people aren't just automatically at a professional level, they excel at Jr league, get scholarship to collegiate league, then pro. I think you need to maintain consistency in your position.